Leo Burnett - Cultural Fuel

Pretty Cool Ad takeover by Tipp-Ex

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I was just made me aware of a pretty awesome site called Everynone. If you don’t know it check it out. Artfully crafted videos and storytelling await.

This is just one of them entitled “Moments”

Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.

via Florian

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A while back I wrote about Barry Schwartz and his “Paradox of choice”. Sheena Iyengar now takes a multi-cultural view on this. In some comparative studies, she shows how the American dogma of choice, i.e. the belief that having many options is good, isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Not just abroad, but even in the US.

First she presents results about social context of choice, i.e. how the results of choosing can be different depending on if it is an individual choice or not. Then she explains difference in perceptions of what is actually a choice and what isn’t and then uses a very heart-wrenching example how far the belief in the choice dogma can affect people who have to make tough decisions.

I believe what we can learn from this that choice, just like everything else, can become a paralytic when it is turned into a dogma. When choice has an individual or collective purpose it can be catalyst.

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This is by far, one of the most impressive and amazing videos I have seen in a long time. Not only for what is shown, but for its concept: one guy, walks across America, from New York to San Francisco wearing blue jeans (Levi’s obviously) and I guess the t-shirts were also from the same brand.
Where is the “amazing” part? Well, the whole video is made in stop-motion.

That’s right; the video consists of 2770 pictures and is 1:53 minutes long. If we do the math, that’s 113 seconds, which makes 24.5 photos per second. Just as any given animation. The procedure and technical aspects are explained in the behind the scenes video and the complexity of the project is much more of what one may have thought, since it is not clay or computer animated.

Another aspect of the commercial is that there are almost no references to the brand and at least I was able to find only three. One is made at the end with a close up to the jeans where the Levi’s tag appears (next to a “to walk” list), which is the more obvious one. The other two (or maybe more) are “hidden” along the video, which make them much more difficult to find since there are 24 pictures every second.

The team of Conscious Minds was in charge of the production of the video and they used a Canon EOS-5D Mark II for all the shots.  Anyway, it is a great video. Enjoy!

Levi's sign hidden along the video around min. 1:49

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I’m loving the video responses from the Old Spice guy.  You can take a look at the commercials here but the one below is actually a response to a tweeted request -  a guy asked the brand icon to help him propose to his girlfriend.

The Old Spice Guy answers tweets to the Brand’s Twitter account with custom videos - a nice use of engaging media for entertaining and extending your brand.  And it helps that media outlets are LOVING this campaign.

Check out all his custom videos here.

Via Mashable

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It is an initiative of London’s Metropolitan Police to create awareness among young people about the danger of carrying weapons. “Choose a different ending” is an interactive video in which the viewer decides what happens next, they decide what to do and how will it end, either you live or die.

Check out the video and take the right decision.

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Perhaps you have already seen this ad, since it went viral a couple of months ago, but have you ever wondered how was it made? This 30 seconds ad was recently honored in the category “Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial” at the 19th Annual AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, presented by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers ( www.aicpshow.com ).

The video is a bit long, but definitely worth watching.

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Interesting 3-minute video from Kraft Lunchables:

I think it’s a good use of online video (the length is just right for a nice solid snack, even though it was apparently designed as a cinema commercial), and an interesting way to drive to their Field Trips For All promotion.  But should they have lied to those kids? 

Via: Omar Khan Via BrandFreak

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Check our the iPad report on Horizont TV.

Part 1:
Talks about possible 3 directions of best-practices of iPad Apps for media companies.

Part 2:
Talks about Branded Applications, Target Audiences and Creative Possibilities

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In This Article on GigaOM,  Liz Gannes reported on some statements made at the OMMA Global conference by Mark Kvamme, an industry insider, where he basically stated that if marketers harness the power of Social Media, they shouldn’t have to pay for advertising anymore.

It’s a bold statement (which goes over well at industry conferences I hear).  And if you’re interested in the finer points of his argument, feel free to read through Gannes piece which seemed to cover the supporting arguments pretty well (shrewedly highlighting the vested interest the speaker had for at least some of his remarks).  But for the real fun – as happens so often in the online world – DON’T forget to read the comments.

I mean, sure – the idea that some new platforms like Twitter or Facebook or others have low or no cost of entry is wonderful, and when we are convincing stakeholders of opportunities for testing and learning we advise Clients to avoid sinking crazy amounts of money in developing ‘owned’ platforms.  But to take this fact and leap to say that user generated media equates to free marketing is missing some crucial considerations, and it can be misleading for Clients who are entering the space.

1.  Just because you have a message, doesn’t mean anyone wants to hear it. If we start from examining Human Behavior, then - don’t take it personally – no one wants to be ‘friends’ with your Brand’s Mission Statement. Brands should take time and care to determining their place, actions, and voice in social media, and ‘tune’ them in order to participate fluidly and gracefully.  This is not child’s play.  Look at marketers do it consistently well – do they seem to be careless in terms of  their approach?  Are they repeating their :30 tagline on their Facebook page?

2. And just because users can spread your message doesn’t mean that they will. Figuring out why people may want to pass on a message or ask their friends to do something has to be considered in the actual development of what that message or experience is.  This takes time, effort and yes, investment.  In fact you may need to be monitoring the space, because if they are already talking about you, they are quite likely not using your talking points.  And trust me, there are lots of companies out to make money on the fact that these tools need power and utility, as well as smart people to use them. Even Coke’s Facebook success in supporting a pair of fans who started their page is a tribute to targeted investing.  Coke recognized their fans’ serious skills –  then rewarded and supported them.  If passion in the community is there then you’ve got a good shot, but the work doesn’t stop there.

3.  There’s more to it than just ‘do it’. I find comments like ‘Brands just need to harness the power of social media’ or ‘you just need to figure out how to work in this new world’ are pretty glib statements.  Brands can test and learn here, sure, but perhaps an approach might be nice?  Maybe something that starts with questions like, ‘Are my customers using these tools?  Or are the influencers of my customers using these tools?’  Maybe I need to consider producing some content for users to interact with?  Be on the lookout for an article by Michelle Davidson, a colleague of mine, talking about the hidden high cost of User Generated Content.  She and others are talking about behavioral economics and user expectations in social media spaces – and yes, you may have to ‘give to get’. Placing any old content into any old free platform does not constitute a strategic use of social media, nor does it guarantee you an overnight success story in terms of viral buzz.

4. Speaking of viral buzz – just because a video ‘went viral’ does not mean that no money was spent on it. There are actually processes and procedures that marketers and agencies can put in place to help successful videos to spread faster and get into featured lists. And even if the production is done on a dime, the idea needs to be developed in the first place.  But don’t assume the inverse of this thinking proves the rule: your :30 spot may not have viral potential. Too often it is tempting to think that ‘We spent all this money on this commercial – of COURSE it has viral potential.’  Sadly, this may not necessarily be true, and all the preparation in the world can’t make up for the fact that there really are ‘different horses for different courses’.

I could go on and on, like how calling online marketing ‘Advertising’ gets my blood boiling, but in the end I think that a successful marketer will strive to understand the social space and how to use it, which takes investigation, thinking, planning, creativity and yes – investing.  I would agree with the speaker that social media has changed things for marketers hugely, and how they spend their money is one of the most important considerations they have to make right now.  But I don’t think that soundbites about marketing being free are helpful or accurate.  Free doesn’t come cheap.

Disclaimer: I was working in my office during the convention:  I wasn’t there.  Maybe he added some caveats?

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